


I Never Knew I Needed You Until Now

by wififtw



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Angst, Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Ian, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Rich - Freeform, introvert! mickey, new boy, social! ian, there might be smut idk yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 18:18:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5174276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wififtw/pseuds/wififtw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey is the new kid in a small, rich town.<br/>Ian has lived here for years, he knows and talks to everyone, so when an unfamiliar face appears it doesn't go unnoticed, especially a face like that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yes, phan and tronnor are included if you know who they are

Of course, like every other teenager, Mickey Milkovich dreads having to go back to the hellhole some refer to as High School. It's not the grades that bother him, being an academically average student. It's the people; the ones who he has to sit in class with for eight hours a day. Not necessarily the teachers, just the meatheads who only take in about point one percent of the information being given to them. There's also the egomaniacs who, for god's sake, can't seem to get over themselves if their lives depended on it, and the overachievers who oddly enough, don't really get on Mickey's nerves all that much, except for when one of them hands in a project that’s assigned the day before even though it’s meant to be a three week long process. Come on, is that really necessary?  
  
There is something different about this specific first day back that makes it even harder to cope. Mickey is brand spankin' new, fresh out of the oven like a batch of cookies, except he wouldn't compare himself to those today. He knows absolutely no one, zilch, and he doesn't plan on making any friends. It doesn't seem very realistic at this point with how much of an introvert he is. At least at his old school he'd been relatively known just from how long he'd been living in the area. He would always hang out with the same two guys, Troye and Connor. Connor had been the main reason Mickey started questioning his sexuality in the first place.  
  
One Friday night after a week full of testing and essays, the three boys had gotten into some alcohol and managed to finish off a few bottles, so of course Troye had the bright idea of playing Spin the Bottle. Mickey hadn't thought much about it; he might have been too far gone to think about it too hard at that time, or maybe he wasn’t really bothered by the thought of kissing a guy at the time... not that he'd ever thought about it in a sober state. Troye and Connor both refused to go first. Mickey secretly knew about the thing the two had for each other. They were most likely afraid of the outcome of a drunken kiss. So Mickey sat up from his position on the ground in a pile of pillows and blankets and reached for the bottle, spinning it clockwise. All eyes watched the bottle as it spun around. Mickey's palms suddenly became sweaty, and when the bottle came to a stop, Mickey looked up just as Connor did, the eye contact making both boys chuckle.  
  
"No fucking tongue, got it?" Mickey ordered.

Connor laughed as he leaned in to cup Mickey's face until his mouth was just inches away from Mickey's. He said, "I do whatever the hell I want," a second before crashing their lips together and forcibly pushing his tongue into Mickey's mouth. Mickey hesitated for a moment until he actually got a feel for what Connor was doing, then started kissing him back. He had to say, he kind of liked it, maybe a little too much considering the tent that started to grow in his pants as the make out session went on. Mickey couldn’t let it happen, not there, not then, so he broke the kiss and forced Connor off of his lap which he, at some point during the kiss, had managed to crawl into.  
  
The rest was basically history. Troye and Connor ended up getting together, which he was happy about, despite the lingering crush he had since that night. None of that seemed to matter anymore though, because he was at a new place with new people who knew absolutely nothing about him and probably didn't give half a shit what his first name was. Well, except for one boy.  
  
   
***  
  
  
Ian Gallagher, well known, social, friendly (to most), the perfect student. He hated the first day just as much as the next guy. Summer had come to a close, bringing with it days full of schoolwork and reading books he had no desire to read. There’s no more vacationing all across the country, or staying up watching Supernatural until three in the morning on Netflix. During summer, Ian could be himself one hundred per cent of the time, but when he leaves school, he is a completely different person. He's not as upbeat, but he isn't sluggish either. He's more laid back. While in school, he's the guy everyone knows, always makes good grades, is friends with everyone, (no seriously every last person, even the ones walking down the hallway with earbuds in their ears shutting out the world around them). Ian is just a likable person.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Ian ends up walking to school that morning for no apparent reason, other than the fact that he missed the bus and doesn't have his licence yet, so driving isn't an option. He isn’t really upset because it helps him clear his head.

 **  
**Ian makes the trek up and down the hills on his way to school, and once he arrives he is greeted by all of the attendees throughout the halls. He reports to the cafeteria to get his schedule, getting stopped by a few other people in the halls gibber-jabbering over summer break and who is dating who, and man is he out of the loop. By the time it's five minutes until the bell, Ian makes it to his first period, sitting in the first vacant seat he notices, which just so happens to be next to one of his friends, Phil.  
  
"Hey man, how was your summer?" Ian asks, sitting down in the chair to the left of Phil.  
  
"It was so much fun! Dan and I got to go to Tokyo and we saw all sorts of fun little shops and pastel scenery. It was great!" Phil went on about what he and Dan did during the break. The two had been an item for well over four years, dating back to the day Dan had asked him out back in the seventh grade. Now they’re both sophomores, like Ian himself. They were the first two to know about Ian's sexuality and were perfectly accepting since they were gay themselves.  
  
The banter about their summer break goes on until the bell rings, the room’s noise falling silent when their History teacher gathers everyone's attention.  
  
"Hello everyone and welcome to-" he starts, but gets interrupted by the loud creak of the door leading into the classroom opening. A petite figure enters the room uncertainly.  
  
"Hello young sir," their History teacher greets him with a toothy grin, so formal that Ian rolls his eyes. "And what would your name be?" he asks.  
  
The boy looks up from the schedule he’s holding in his hands to meet the professor's gaze, straight faced. Ian has to say, this boy is nothing short of attractive as hell. His striking blue eyes are gorgeous, even across the room they are abnormally vibrant, in a good way. His blue eyes perfectly contrast with his jet black hair and thick, black-framed glasses. This boy is going to get Ian in trouble, he knows, and he hasn't even stated his name.


	2. Getting to Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Tanya for looking over this and editing for me!!

"Mickey, uh, Mickey Milkovich," the boy answers timidly with a Chicago accent.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Milkovich. Welcome to History. Please, take a seat," their teacher says, gesturing toward the rest of the classroom.  
  
It’s at this moment that Ian realizes the only seat open is diagonally across from him, directly in front of Phil, giving him a perfect view of Mickey. At the same time, he knows this will be a problem. He might as well kiss his dream of getting an A in History goodbye, as well as in any other classes he’ll have with Mickey. On the other hand, Ian feels slightly hopeful at the thought of getting to see Mickey more than once throughout the day.

Mickey quickly takes his seat in front of Phil who, at this point, notices Ian staring at the new boy, deciding a good kick in the shin ought to bring him back to reality. Phil does so,earning a groan along with an “ouch, Jesus” from Ian. “What was that for?” he asks. Phil gives him a look as if saying, ‘Do you seriously have to ask me that question?’. “Hey, let me live a little,” Ian says, knowing the meaning behind the look. It’s then that they realize their teacher has started talking, so out of respect they listen‒ well, Phil does.

Mr. Marks goes on about his kids, grandkids and loving wife for a good thirty minutes, or at least that's what Ian assumes the man was on about, his attention being elsewhere. Ian just can’t shake the feeling he gets from Mickey; everything about him, from his name, to his look, to his aura. It all makes Ian feel at peace.

After the teacher's speech on how “work ethic is important” and how he “expects us to do our best” comes to a close he informs the class that they may talk freely. Ian takes the opportunity to get to know Mickey. He gets out of his seat, approaching Mickey.

“Hi,” Ian simply states, standing next to the boy’s desk. Mickey looks up at the figure in front of him, not expecting much. Little did he know when he looked up he'd lock eyes with an actual God. Deciding he should probably play it cool and not act like he’s just seen the most beautiful man ever, he replies with a simple, “Hey.”

Fortunately, the person that had been sitting in front of Mickey got up and left as Ian made his way over, giving Ian a place to sit and converse. “So,” Ian starts, sitting down in the open seat. “You're new,” Ian continues, his eyes meeting the beautiful blue of Mickey’s.

“That easy to tell?” the boy replies. Ian could get used to hearing that voice. ”Thought I was concealing it pretty well.”

“Nah, I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been with these people my entire life,” he states. ”Also, you’re kinda hard to miss,” he adds, a smirk playing at his features.

Mickey stops for a second before replying, “And why is that?” in a somewhat offended tone

“We don’t get a lot of guys around here who, you know, look like you do,” he says with a suggestive look. Mickey still doesn’t seem to get his gist, for his answer isn’t what Ian expects.

“What’re you trying to say, I’m ugly or something?”

Ian chuckles slightly. “No, no,” he starts, nervously licking his lips, wondering if he should keep talking. Building up the courage, Ian continues. “I’m saying,” Ian looks up, “the exact opposite.” His eyes lock with the other boy’s.

Mickey pauses for a moment, thinking, _is he being serious? Am I on some prank show right now?_ He gives off a confused face before adding, “oh, uh, okay,” mentally face palming himself for being so awkward.

“That's all you're responding with? ‘Oh, uh, okay’?” Ian asks, giving him a slight smile.

“What else am I supposed to say?” Mickey wonders, playing it off as if he was completely careless.

“I don't know, maybe a ‘Thanks’ or a ‘You're not so bad yourself’?”

“Hah, don't flatter yourself tough guy,” Mickey shoots back.

Ian, slightly disappointed, responds,“Hey, what's not to like?”

Mickey just laughs, gathering his things, for the bell's about to ring.

Ian decides to drop it, telling himself it doesn't matter what Ian thinks, but the little voice in the back of his mind tells him it does.

Ian snaps out of his thoughts and meets gazes with Mickey just as the bell rings.

“Well, I’ll see you around then, I guess,” Ian states nervously, making his way towards Phil, who he’s completely forgotten about during the interaction. _Wow I’m a great friend, aren’t I?_

Ian makes his way toward the door where Phil is waiting, until he feels a hand pulling at his arm. “Hey,” he turns and sees it’s Mickey. The boys’ eyes meet his as he says, “As I was saying, or rather, as you were saying, I’m new here so I have no clue where anything is…” He trails off, attempting to hide the fact that he needs help. It seems like his entire life seems to consist of hiding, but he doesn’t want to admit it.

“Oh, yeah, ok. I'll see if I can help you out,” he offers with what he hopes is a friendly smile, but is probably more of an awe expression’.

“Don’t seem so surprised firecrotch,” Mickey replies, throwing Ian off a bit with the nickname. “You're pretty cool and I don't really know anyone here, so I’m pretty shit out of luck unless you help me out,” Mickey says, raising an eyebrow while waiting to see if Ian will help or not.

“Wow, you really know how to flatter a guy, don't you?” Ian responds with a chuckle. He takes the schedule from Mickey’s hands, turns and leads him towards the door.

“Not trying to flatter you, firecrotch. Just trying to find out where the hell I’m going,” he says, pushing Ian teasingly.

  
“Hey, I’m trying to read here,” Ian says back in a playful tone. “And it seems ‘where the hell you're going’ is Geometry.” Ian looks up with a sly smirk on his face and Mickey stares back at him with his eyebrows scrunched in before Ian adds, “With me.”


	3. An Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian & Mickey run into an old "friend" of Ian's. etc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from "An Encounter" by the 1975   
> I have finally updated! Sorry for the huge wait, school is yikes. Also HUGE THANK U to magneticdice (Tanya) for editing

“No shit?”

“No shit man. In fact you have three other classes with me.” Ian replies pleasantly, staring in awe at the schedule.

“So I gotta deal with your ginger ass all goddamn day?” Mickey throws back before taking his schedule into his own hands again, examining it closely.

“Don’t be a dick. I’m not going to help you if you insult my luscious ginger locks,” Ian responds, whipping his head around dramatically.

Mickey huffs out a laugh, smiling and rolling his eyes. “Just get me to fucking class without being late. Lord knows I had enough tardies to last a lifetime at my other school.”

Ian smiles and leads the way.

  
***

Geometry is a good ways away from History. On their way they talk vaguely of Mickey’s experience moving and about the town they’re in, Ian giving him names of places he should definitely visit, adding that he would tag along if Mickey wanted. At that Mickey added, “What? Like a date or some shit?”

“If you want it to be.” Ian decides he’ll leave it up to Mickey to decide if he wants that or not rather than forcing it onto him.

“I don’t really… well, date,” Mickey says bluntly.

“Why? If you don’t mind me asking?” Ian responds.

“I don’t know. It’s just never really been my thing, I guess,” Mickey responds, looking as if he wants to add to it, but stops himself. Ian gives him a questioning look.

“What?” Mickey asks, noticing the redhead’s expression.

“What else were you going to say? You hesitated on that last part there.”

“Damn, I thought my dad was bad about the ‘reading people’ shit.” He pauses after that, “I guess you could say it has to do with the whole introvert thing too. People can be quite the fucking bother, plus there’s just too much drama that comes along with relationships to deal with.” _Why the fuck am I opening up to this guy?_ Mickey suddenly thinks. _I just met him today. What has gotten into me?_

“I feel ya Mick,” Ian says. By this time they’ve made their way to their class in Mr. Jenkins’ room. “Last year I dated this one guy who turned out to be the biggest closet case and a massive douchebag.” Then Ian suddenly looks up to see none other than the boy himself, Nathan.

  
***

His and Nathan’s relationship was somewhat of an abnormal one. They’d fuck, talk about shit, be affectionate, all of those things, but only behind closed doors. To put it simply, Nathan was a closet case. So was Ian, sort of. He wasn’t necessarily hiding the fact that he was gay, it just hadn’t come up in conversation with people at school. Nathan is in track with Ian and they met through the team and were friends. That is, until they became more.

One day Ian was at track practice lining up with some of his teammates who threw shot put.

“Hey, I need to talk to you,” came a familiar voice behind Ian. Ian turned around, examining Nathan’s face, seeing a worried expression across his boyfriend’s features soon made Ian’s reflect.

“Sure Nathan. What is it?” he responded in a curious tone. Nathan pulled him to the side where no one could hear.

“We have to stop this.” he said.

“Stop what?” Ian asked.

“Us. This. People are suspicious and even me talking to you right now is risky,” Nathan said, one hand fiddling with the other.

“Look, we can work it out, it’ll-”

“No, Ian. It’s done, this is it. Sorry dude.” Nathan really did feel bad, but he couldn’t risk having his parents find out about him and Ian and some of his friends had started bringing attention to the amount of time he and Ian spent together compared to the amount of time each of them spent with others.

Not even a week later, Ian was on his way to Biology when he saw Nathan hand in hand with Haley Harrison. Haley was known to go from guy to guy in school. Knowing this, Ian predicted it would last a week, tops. He was right. Apparently Haley helped Nathan gain back some of his “manly ego”, because from then on Nathan was a massive dick to anyone and everyone he came across.

  
***

“Speak of the devil,” Ian whispers. Ian and Mickey approach the door at the same time as Nathan. Ian hopes he won’t say anything, but of course he’s shit out of luck.

“Heeey Gallagher what’s up? Long time no see,” he says in a cocky tone, smirking at Ian.

“Hi Nathan,” Ian says bluntly.

“Aw, what’s the matter Freckles? Weather got you down?” Nathan asks, pretending to be sympathetic.

“First off, it’s perfectly fucking sunny outside dumbass, and second, I think ‘what’s the matter’ is that Ian doesn’t have time nor does he want to talk to stupid asses like you, so if you could kindly fuck off,” Mickey snaps in a light tone despite the content of his words, waving his hand and motioning Nathan away from the two. If there’s anything that ticks Mickey off more than assholes, it’s assholes who think they’re smart little fuckers who can get by without a scratch, and Ian didn’t seem like he was going to be the one to tell the guy to fuck off.

Nathan scoffs “And who would this be?” he says, examining Mickey. “Your new little boyfriend or some shit? I know you’re into that kind of stuff, Gallagher.” At that Mickey grabs Nathan’s arm, pulling him into a position of subordinance. Mickey doesn’t know what he’s doing in this moment. All he knows is that he’s not about to let the only decent person to talk to, that he knows of, get pushed around by some pretentious asshole.

“You want to try that again buddy?” Mickey says snarkily with Nathan still in his grip.

“Shit, Jesus, I’m sorry Ian. Fuck,” Nathan bites out, struggling to escape Mickey’s grasp.

Once Nathan apologizes, Mickey lets him free and steps back to where Ian’s looking at the situation in shock. No one. Has Ever. Stood Up. To Nathan Johnson.

Shit isn’t over and Ian knows it. At that moment Nathan swings. Just as his fist leaves his side and is in the air, Ian reaches out and grabs the boy’s arm. Mickey grabs the other arm after Nathan tries to take another shot. By this point a crowd has gathered, phones open to Snapchat, recording the confrontation. Mickey rolls his eyes and lets out a small laugh. Smirking, Mickey adds, “You tried,” with a shoulder shrug. Nathan gulps, the look on his face fearful.

“You done yet?” Ian asks, having regained confidence due to the obvious upper hand they have obtained.

“What’s going on here?” a teacher's voice comes from behind Ian and Mickey.

“I’ll tell you what happened. These two cock suckers here were causing quite the trouble,” Nathan says triumphantly, smirking.

“Language, Mr. Johnson,” he says sternly. “Ian Gallagher? And, well I’ve no clue who you might be,” he says, pointing to Mickey. “Doesn’t matter. You’re causing trouble, you’re coming with me,” the teacher says, motioning for the boys to follow him.

The boys look at each other, faces filled with disappointment at first, that is until both boys seem to have the same idea in mind looking from each other to the door to their right with the sign labeled “stairwell”. They both smirk. The teacher isn’t looking, what a dumbass, so Ian grabs Mickey’s hand, leading the way to the stairs pushing the door open in a swift motion, not looking back, still clutching on to the other boys hand.

When they reach the bottom of the stairs, they approach an exit and proceed through there. Once both boys are a safe distance from the school, they both stop, untangle their hands, let out a sigh and try to catch their breath.

“Fuck, now what?” Mickey breathes out through a large grin, still tired from the run.

“How about that date you were suggesting?” Ian asks, sly smile playing at his features.

“Hate to break it to ya, but they’ll have the whole town on our asses. This place ain’t that big,” Mickey points out.

“It’s not that small, but if you’re worried about it, we can just go back to my place. Clayton’s never home that much anyways.”

Mickey gives him a questioning look, wondering who Clayton is.

“Biological dad,” Ian answers. “Moved in with him when I found out he was my real dad and not some alcoholic piece of shit like my Uncle Frank, who I originally thought was my real dad. My cousins though, they’re great. I consider them my siblings. They stop by the apartment every now and then. I go to their place sometimes. They live in the town over.” Ian goes on and Mickey looks at him, taking in all the information he’s just received. What a clusterfuck.

Mickey ends up just nodding as recognition that he understands Mickey’s dad isn’t around often either, with his appointments, being a psychiatrist is time consuming. Mickey’s mom dying when Mickey was young took a toll on them both, but they got back on their feet and Terry is making more than before, which isn’t much, but it’s enough.

“Anyways, I can either call my brother Lip to pick us up or we can walk there. Shouldn’t be that far. That is, if you’re okay with that.”

“You know you talk lots Gallagher?” Mickey asks. Ian laughs.

“Yeah, I kinda do that when I’m nervous or when I’m around someone I really like,” Ian answers, peering up from where he had been looking at the ground, smiling at Mickey.

“Such a fucking dork,” Mickey responds, laughing. Ian straightens up at that, eyebrow raised. “Whatever, let's just get out of here before they come looking for us or some stupid shit,” Mickey says. This oughta be an exciting rest of the day; the first bit sure was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments & Kudos to keep me up to date on how you think this is going are ALWAYS appreciated!


End file.
